


Dibs

by theghoulthatwrites



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-16
Updated: 2015-08-16
Packaged: 2018-04-15 02:04:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4588893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theghoulthatwrites/pseuds/theghoulthatwrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a normal day at the guild when somebody decides to call "dibs"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was a normal day in Fairy Tail. Bottles were being thrown across the room smashing to pieces against the wall, Natsu and Gray were fighting, Happy was trying to give Carla a fish; all in all a normal day for the Fairy Tail guild. Although Fairy Tail never needed a reason to party, the guild hall was one perpetual party, today there was a reason for the mayhem. Laxus and Mira had finally gotten together after years of denying their feelings and walking on eggshells around the other. Everyone in the guild cheered and congratulated the two mages, happy that their friends finally came to their senses. But there was one guild member that, though incredibly happy for his best friend and brother, was unable to fully participate in the festivities.

Downing the last of his drink, Bickslow sighed as he motioned Kinana to bring him another. From his seat at the bar he could clearly see each person around him and, although he was uncomfortable around so many people guild mates or not, he resisted the urge to abandon the first floor in favor of the peace on the second. 

Laxus looked around the room and spotted his friend at the bar, looking like a lost puppy with his babies hovering above him. Making up some excuse, he left his girlfriend and sauntered towards the bar as Makarov was giving some big speech about his future great-grandchildren. Plopping himself on the stool next to Bickslow, he thanked Kinana for bringing him a drink and took a sip before he turned to his best friend.

"What the fuck is up with you man?" Laxus raised an eyebrow at the man. He knew exactly what was wrong with Bickslow, but he wasn't going to bring it up while they were surrounded by their nosey guild mates.

"I don't know what you're talking about, man," Bickslow mumbled, taking a big gulp of his own drink. "I am perfectly normal, thank you very much."

Laxus laughed. "Yeah, and I'm the king of Fiore. Seriously man, you gotta stop acting like a pussy and talk to her already; it's painful to watch this."

Bickslow grunted and swirled the amber liquid in his cup, avoiding Laxus' stare. He was deep in thought when he vaguely heard the guild doors open and close, only looking up when his babies zipped across the room to greet the newcomers. Hearing Laxus chuckle, Bickslow glared at his friend before turning to see where his babies went. 'Of course, they would go to her,' he grumbled to himself.

He wasn't sure when it happened, but as time went on Bickslow found himself drawn to the "Light of Fairy Tail," Lucy Heartfilia. Bickslow tried to justify it as a side effect of his magic; of course Seith mages would be drawn to a golden soul, they were extremely rare in the world. But he quickly realized that it wasn't just her soul that attracted him, it was her. She was called the light of Fairy Tail for a reason; Lucy was forgiving and kind, always putting her family's happiness before her own. Of course, she was physically attractive, but it was her personality that was the major factor. Before he knew it, Bickslow had developed deep feelings for the Celestial mage that he had only talked to a handful of times. 

Lucy had just walked into the guild with Levy when she was suddenly caught off guard by five little totems zooming towards her.

"Lucy! Lucy!" they chanted cheerfully, hovering around her and occasionally rubbing against her cheek. Lucy giggled as she greeted each little totem with a kiss, causing them to vibrate with happiness.

"Wow, they really like you, Lu-chan," Levy observed, watching the little totems hover around her best friend. "Why is that?"

"Hmm, I don't know. They just started doing this every time they see me, not that I'm complaining; they're adorable!" Lucy grabbed all five totems and hugged them to her chest, giving them each another kiss.

Bickslow watched with a small smile as his babies cooed in delight when Lucy kissed them. Normally he would have been slightly jealous, wishing she were kissing him and not his babies, but he was happy that Lucy didn't shy away from them and showed no signs of fear or apprehension with them. 

Laxus cleared his throat, catching the man's attention. "So are you going to talk to her or what?"

"Nah," Bickslow said, shrugging nonchalantly. "She's comfortable around the babies, I don't want to fuck that up."

"Honestly man, do you really think that you'd fuck it up?" Bickslow shrugged again. "For fuck's sake, she knows about your magic and if she doesn't have a problem with your babies, why would she have a problem with you?"

"Because the babies can't control a person just by making eye contact," Bickslow pointed out, gesturing to his eyes underneath the helmet. Laxus sighed.

"Whatever man, but if you don't call dibs soon, somebody else will," he said. 

"Call dibs on what?" said a feminine voice behind the two men. 

"What, what?" The babies echoed the last word.

"Nothing, Blondie. See you around, Bix." With that Laxus downed his drink and stood up, clapping a hand on Bickslow's shoulder before sauntering off towards Freed.

Bickslow watched helplessly as his friend walked away, leaving him with the source of his problems. 'You are going to fucking get it later, man...' he thought. Hearing a dainty cough, he reluctantly turned to look at the young woman now sitting beside him.

"What's up, Cosplayer?" He decided to act as if nothing was wrong, grinning widely with his tongue hanging out.

"I figured I would come say hi to you while I returned your adorable babies. And I am not a cosplayer," she uttered, shooting a glare at him.

"Oh, well hi," he said lamely. 'Oh nice, that definitely didn't sound awkward at all, dumbass,' he mentally berated himself.

"So," she started as she adjusted in her seat, one totem on her lap while the other four sat on the bar in front of them. "What are you calling dibs on?"

Bickslow said nothing as she gazed at his babies in wonder. 'They've never stuck to anybody like that other than me...' He mentally shook himself, and looked back at the blonde's face.

"Nothing really," he mumbled. "Well, Blondie, nice talking to you!"

Bickslow hopped off the stool and all but ran to the table where Laxus and Freed were sitting, all but one of his babies following. Dropping into the seat across from the two men, he groaned.

"So..." Laxus prodded, feigning innocence. "How'd it go?"

Bickslow glared at the man he called his brother. "Like you don't fucking know? I'm pretty damn sure you heard everything."

Laxus laughed loudly, "Oh man, that was so pitiful. It hurt just to hear that."

"Asshole." Bickslow kicked him under the table and the two began to bicker nonsensically while Freed watched with a thoughtful look on his face.

Lucy watched Bickslow practically run away from the bar with his babies following him, confused. 'Was it something I said?' she wondered. She felt something wiggling in her lap and looked down, surprised to see that one of Bickslow's babies was still on her lap.

"Why didn't you go with Bickslow?" She picked it up and sat it on the bar. It popped up and hovered in circles around her head.

"Stay with Lucy!" It chanted, rubbing against her cheek. "Like Lucy!"

Lucy giggled at the little totem's antics, giving it a kiss,

"Well, thank you. I like you too, cutie," she laughed. The totem cooed happily, sitting on her shoulder and nuzzling into her neck. Lucy spotted Mira walking towards her behind the bar and smiled at the older woman. "Hi, Mira!"

"Hi, Lucy," Mira greeted, smiling. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean?" Lucy tilted her head to the side, not understand what Mira was asking. Mira giggled and pointed to the totem sitting on her shoulder. "Oh! I don't know, they started greeting me when they see me and this one decided to stay with me when Bickslow left."

"Hm, you know I've never seen them that way with anybody but Bickslow," Mira chirped, grinning at Lucy mischievously.

Lucy noticed the look in Mira's eyes, her match-making eyes as Lucy liked to call them. She quickly tried to dissuade Mira from whatever thoughts were running through her head.

"It's not like that Mira!" She waved her hands in front of her, denying any thoughts the Take-Over mage might have. "I barely even talk to him, so no way."

"But Lucy," Mira whined, "you would be so cute together! You're perfect for him, you know."

Lucy couldn't stop the light blush that warmed her cheeks and, unfortunately for her, Mira noticed it.

"Lucy..." She whispered conspiratorially, "Do you have feelings for Bickslow?"

Sighing, Lucy gave up trying to hide it from Mira and busied herself playing with the totem as she talked. "I don't know Mira. I've hardly ever talked to him, let alone spent time with him. Is it even possible to have feelings for someone you barely know?"

"Of course it is, Lucy!" Mira assured the girl, "Levy barely knew Gajeel, besides his bad side, and she still developed feelings for him."

The two looked towards the corner of the guild at the table where said bookworm was sitting next to the Dragon Slayer, reading. They watched as Gajeel let Levy lean against his arm, occasionally glancing at her when he though nobody would notice. 

"I guess you're right Mira," Lucy conceded. "But they at least had some sort of traumatic experience between them to start the relationship."

"What about when you fought him during the Fantasia incident?" Mira suggested. Lucy shook her head.

"It's not the same, I beat him," she mumbled.

Mira hummed thoughtfully, "Well, I still think it would work."

Lucy groaned at buried her head in her arms, muttering, "Thanks Mira. Can I have a drink?"

"Sure! Give me one second and I'll get it for you," the barmaid chirped cheerfully and went about making Lucy's drink.

What most of the guild didn't know what that Bickslow could communicate with his babies; it was almost like Warren's telepathy. Because of this, Bickslow knew everything that was said between the two women. The totem with Lucy sensed that this conversation would be something that he would want to know and passed along all the information all while innocently sitting on her shoulder.

Bickslow was grinning as the conversation ended between Lucy and Mira. Laxus and Freed were looking at him like he was crazy, but he ignored them. 'So she has feelings for me,' he thought. 'Well that makes things easier.'

"What's up?" Laxus asked, looking between Bickslow and Lucy. 

"I'm gonna talk to her," Bickslow said simply before getting up and walking back to Lucy, ignoring Laxus' "Fucking finally" comment.

The babies, sensing where he was going, zipped ahead to settle around Lucy as Bickslow made his way over.

"Lucy! Lucy!" they chanted. Lucy smiled.

"Hi guys," she said, patting them. "What are doing here?"

"They came because I was coming." Lucy stiffened slightly and turned to look at Bickslow.

"Hey," she said nervously.

"Hey," he replied, sitting on the stool next to her, watching his babies. "They really like you, ya know."

"I can see that," Lucy acknowledged, "Do you know why?"

"Hmm..." Bickslow smirked, deciding to tease the blonde. "Probably because I like you."

Lucy blushed and sputtered for answer, but came up with nothing coherent and decided to change the subject. Just then, Mira returned with her drink and winked at the poor girl before leaving to find her boyfriend. Avoiding his gaze, she sipped her drink before looking at the totems crowded around her. "Do they have names?"

'Nice save, Lucy, that didn't sound stupid at all,' she chided herself.

"Pap, Pep, Pip, Pop, and Pup," he answered, pointing at each totem. Hearing their names, the totems hovered in front of the two, doing little somersaults when their name was called. 

"So they know who they are?" Lucy wondered, watching them.

"They know who they were before they died," he explained. "They aren't just mindless blocks of wood."

"I never thought they were," she told him. "They remind me of my spirits."

"Except my babies don't cosplay like you and your spirits," he remarked, giving her a tongue-lolling grin.

Lucy glared at him, but didn't bother to correct him. She knew that there was no way to get him to stop calling her and her spirits cosplayers, even if he was right about one of her spirits. 

"So," she began, leaning her chin on her hand, "you never told me what you were calling dibs on with Laxus."

Bickslow wondered if he should tell her or not, but decided it was now or never. "You."

Lucy blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I was calling dibs on you," he said nonchalantly.

Surprised, Lucy turned her head and looked at Laxus who was sitting with Mira. She narrowed her eyes at him and he just grinned back at her, playing innocent. Lucy watched as he leaned down to whisper something in Mira's ear and Lucy's face paled when Mira looked at her with her match-making eyes on full force.

"Is that so?" she asked blandly, turning back to the man sitting beside her.

"Yup, I also know," he added.

"Know?" Lucy looked confused. "Know what?"

"I know you like me." Bickslow watched, amused as the blonde's face turned as red as Erza's hair. She floundered for something to say.

"H-How did you know that?" She finally got out. Bickslow pointed at Pip, the totem that had stayed with Lucy.

"I can communicate with them, you know," he told her, grinning mischievously. "I heard everything through him."

"Oh," she said dumbly. 'I should have known...'

"And so..." He trailed off.

"So?"

"Since you like me and I like you, would you go out with me?" He asked, his grin not once leaving his face.

Lucy glanced back at Mira and Laxus, knowing the Dragon Slayer heard what Bickslow just said. She watched in horror as Laxus smirked and whispered to Mira again. Mira gasped and shot her gaze towards Lucy, meeting her eyes and giving off an evil aura that clearly said "You sure as hell better say yes."

"... Okay," she agreed. She turned back to the man beside her and held up a hand. "On one condition, though."

Immediately, Bickslow's grin disappeared as he looked at the blonde warily. "... What?"

"You leave that metal contraption of a helmet at home," she demanded, pointing at the helmet covering his head. 

"I think I can do that," he said, nodding.

Lucy nodded triumphantly, turning back to her drink and taking sips as she talked to the little totems.

Turning to Laxus, Bickslow grinned and, pointing at Lucy, mouthed, "Dibs."

Later on, Bickslow wondered if she knew that he had never agreed to willingly take his helmet off for something. He only ever took it off around people he trusted, and they were few and far between. But inside, he knew that he would do just about anything to make the Light of Fairy Tail happy and burn brighter.


	2. Chapter 2

Today was the day of reckoning; Bickslow was finally taking the guild's resident Celestial Spirit mage on a date. The only problem: Bickslow had no idea where to take her or what to do. Normally he would ask Levy for advice, since the two women were best friends, but Levy was on a mission with her team and since he was not going to ask Erza, he was left with one option: Mira. Sighing, Bickslow made his way over to the bar.

"Hi Bickslow, can I get you something?" Mira smiled as he sat down, his babies hovering over his head.

"No thanks, but I do need your help," he murmured.

"Oh?"

Bickslow looked around the room, making sure Lucy wasn't there, before answering. "Don't get mad, but I don't know what to do for this date with Cosplayer."

"Bickslow," she scolded, "isn't the date today?"

He flinched slightly at her tone but said, "Yeah..."

"In my defense, this is pretty much the first time I've ever actually taken a girl on a date," he confessed.

"You are just like Laxus, you know that?" Mira frowned at him, but sighed and disappeared under the bar, reappearing with a piece of paper. Sliding it across the bar to him she spoke, "Take her to this. I was going to give it to her today anyway, and it's a good place to start a date with Lucy."

Bickslow picked up the paper and read it; it was a flier for a planetarium exhibit that had holograms of all the constellations. "Mira, you are a savior."

"I know," she giggled. 

"Lucy! Lucy!" The babies cheered, flying over to meet the blonde as she walked into the guild.

Lucy giggled and patted their heads like always. "Hi cuties!"

She continued towards the bar with the little totems hovering around her, still chanting her name, when a ball of blue fur slammed into her chest. She most likely would have fallen backward if Bickslow's babies hadn't steadied her back. Saying a quick thank you to them, she turned her attention to the blue cat nuzzling his face into her breasts.

"Happy, what's wrong?" she asked, gently pulling his face out of her chest. A very warm and heavy arm was draped across her shoulders before Happy could say anything.

"Hiya, Luce!" Natsu leaned onto her, his usual idiotic grin on his face. "Let's go on a job!"

"Natsu I already told you, I can't," she sighed, removing his arm. "I have plans later today."

"But, Luuuuce," he whined, "I'm so bored! Happy is too!"

"Yeah Lushy," Happy chirped, "we need to go on a job so I can get fish!"

Lucy smiled a little but shook her head, "No can do. Next time we'll take a job with a big reward and I'll buy you all the fish you want. Natsu, why don't you go on a mission with Lisanna?"

"Fiiiine," he conceded, "but you owe me and Happy next time!"

"Right!" Lucy laughed as Natsu and Happy made their way to Lisanna's table, making her own way to the bar with the babies in tow. She sat down next to Bickslow and greeted Mira, "Hi, Mira! Can I have a strawberry milkshake, please?"

"Of course Lucy, I'll be right back!" The barmaid disappeared into the kitchen to make the shake. 

While Lucy patiently waited for her drink, she turned to Bickslow. "I thought you were leaving that thing you call a helmet at home?"

"You only said I had to leave it at home on the date," he replied, watching Pip perch on her shoulder. "This is the guild, so I can wear it if I want to."

Lucy huffed, "Fine. What are we doing anyway?"

"It's a surprise," he said with his tongue-lolling grin. 

"Of course it is," she scoffed, thanking Mira as her shake was set in front of her. Taking small sips of it, she absentmindedly pet the little totem on her shoulder, causing it to nuzzle into her neck and make a strange sound. She looked at it, surprised. "What's that sound he's making?"

"It's like purring," Bickslow explained, "but with magical energy. They really only do it when they are really happy and comfortable."

"So he's happy that I'm giving him attention?" She smiled at Pip, still patting his head. 

Bickslow shrugged. "He's really attached to you. I'm not sure why, though."

"Well it's obviously because I'm amazing," she laughed. "Isn't it, little buddy?"

"Lucy amazing!" Pip declared, moving from her shoulder to nuzzle her cheek.

"See? And souls never lie," she nodded. She paused for a minute to finish her shake. "Well, I'm going to go get ready and whatnot. See you later!"

Lucy gently kissed Pip before setting him next to the other totems and left some jewels on the bar for Mira. She waved at the totems and smiled brightly at Bickslow, practically skipping away from the bar.

Before she made it out the doors, Bickslow turned around and called out, "At 6, Cosplayer!"

Laughing, Lucy gave a thumbs up, not looking back, and skipped out of the guild and towards her apartment. She called out Plue and talked to him while they balanced alone the canal edge, waving off the warnings of the boatmen. Once home, Lucy looked at the time and decided there was time for a shower. 'We're not meeting until 6 and it's 4 so I can take a quick shower.' She quickly washed her hair and body, toweling her hair as she got out. Wrapping the towel around herself, she skipped out of the bathroom and picked up Plue, taking him with her to her closet.

"Hmm, what should I wear Plue?" She held the little snowman so he could look around.

"Pun Puun!" He pointed a wobbly arm at her red jacket. Lucy plucked it off its hanger and held it up, thinking.

"You know, Plue, I might have you pick out my clothes more often," she giggled, kidding the little spirit's forehead. Setting Plue on the bed, she grabbed the rest of the clothes for her date. After she dressed, she stood in front of the mirror, contemplating her appearance. Under the red jacket Plue picked was a plain white spaghetti strap; for once she decided to forego her usual miniskirt in favor of a comfortable pair of skinny jeans tucked into her brown knee-high boots. Twirling in front of Plue, Lucy asked the spirit for his opinion.

"Pun pun puuuun," he said, nodding approvingly.

"Thanks, Plue," she giggled. Walking back into the bathroom she hung her towel and contemplated what to do with her hair. 'I don't really want to bother Cancer even though I know he won't have a problem...' Shrugging, she dried her hair and used a red ribbon to tie it up in a small side ponytail with the rest of her hair hanging loose. She didn't bother putting on a lot of makeup either, using only face powder, mascara, and a pink tinted lip balm.

"Well, Plue, I think I'm ready," she announced, stepping back in front of the mirror to give herself one last assessment.

Plue did his odd wobbly dance, nodding his head fervently. "Pun Pun!"

A knock suddenly sounded at the door, startling the poor spirit. Lucy patted his head and, with one last glance at herself, made her way to the door with Plue clinging to her leg. After a deep breath she opened the door, revealing a helmet-less Bickslow and his babies, all of whom zoomed into her apartment either greeting her or hovering around Plue.

"Hey." Lucy greeted the odd group, smiling at Bickslow and patting the babies as they passed her on their way towards Plue.

"Yo," he replied. Bickslow grinned at her before looking at the spirit surrounded by his babies. "No offense, Cosplayer, but what the hell is that?"

"Plue is not a what," she huffed, picking the little snowman up. "He is the spirit of the Canis Minor, the little dog."

Bickslow laughed heartily. "I hate to break it to ya, but that's not a dog."

"Whatever, he's cute and there whenever I need him so that's what counts," she defended. Gently she kissed Plue's head and set him down next to the babies. Glancing from the babies to Bickslow she asked, "Are they staying here?"

Bickslow shrugged. "Yeah I guess."

"Then I'll leave Plue out for them." She turned to Plue, who was looking at the little totems warily, and patted his head. "It's okay, Plue, they won't hurt you. You just have fun with them and I'll see you when we come back."

"Pun!" Plue nodded and turned to the babies, asking them to play through gesturing.

"Ready?" Lucy asked, straightening and grabbing her purse. Bickslow nodded and reached for her hand, pulling her out of the apartment. 

Once the door was locked, Lucy followed behind the Seith mage and finally took in his appearance. Instead of his usual armor, he was wearing a plaid button-up with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, left open over a black t-shirt, and a pair of worn blue jeans with sneakers. Without his helmet you could see his two-toned hair, the three separate mohawks haphazardly brushed back in an attempt to look presentable. His face marking was also visible but was obstructed by the sunglasses covering his eyes.

"You know, the point of not having your helmet was so I could see your eyes," Lucy pointed out. 

"Wow Cosplayer, I didn't know you were that into my eyes. You should have told me sooner," he teased, lifting them long enough to wink at her, tongue lolling.

"You're an ass, you know that?" Lucy muttered, frowning. 'He does have nice eyes, not that I'll tell him that,' she thought.

"So I've been told," he chuckled, still holding her hand. "And here we are!"

Lucy looked up as Bickslow stopped in front of the town's planetarium. 

"Magnolia's Holographic Star Exhibit?" She read the sign, glancing at her date with a raised eyebrow.

He shrugged. "Stars are cool. And you like them, so why not?"

Grinning, Lucy dragged Bickslow into the building, eager to see what sort of exhibit it would be. As she stepped into the appropriate room, she gasped. Instead of a simple projection of the constellations onto a wall, these were holograms of each constellation. The room looked like a mini-galaxy with all 88 constellations hovering at chest level. Dropping Bickslow's hand, Lucy slowly walked around the room, gazing at each and every hologram in awe. 

"So I'm guessing you like it?" Bickslow laughed as he followed the blonde.

"Of course I do! It's not every day that I can look at the stars this close, is it?" She giggled and pranced around the room, stopping at each one. When she spotted a very familiar constellation, she ran her hand around the edge of the hologram, as if caressing it. "Look, Bix, it's Leo!"

Bickslow studied the arrangement of stars and said, "It looks like a bent coat hanger..."

Lucy slapped his arm lightly and began to explain, "It's Leo the Lion, so the constellation is supposed to look like a crouching lion. But it's hard to see if you don't know about it."

"Right," he muttered, still not seeing it.

Eagerly, Lucy continued her mini-lesson. "Going west from Leo is Cancer, Gemini, Taurus, Aries, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, Sagittarius, Ophiuchus, Scorpio, Libra, and finally Virgo. I always thought Ophiuchus' key was a rumor, but Yukino has it."

She continued flitting about the room, pointing out each and every constellation for her keys. When she finally finished looking at each constellation, she blew kisses at the ones she had a key for and turned to Bickslow.

"Finished?" He laughed at her still-ecstatic expression as she nodded fervently. "Are you hungry?"

"No, not really," she said. "Take me to dinner on the next date!"

Bickslow nodded and took her hand again, leading her out of the building and towards her apartment. The two walked in silence for a few minutes before Lucy spoke up.

"You know, there are actually 92 constellations," she chirped, hopping onto the edge of the canal.

"Then why were there only 88?"

"Well," she started, balancing on the canal edge with her arms out, "according to the legend, the constellations for the Elemental keys only appear when the keys have found an owner."

"Elemental keys? Found an owner?" Bickslow questioned, holding one of her hands so she wouldn't fall.

"Yep! The Elemental keys find their own owners," she explained. "A Celestial Spirit mage can't just waltz into a forest and find one, they don't work that way. They key remains hidden from the world until a mage comes along that they deem worthy to hold their key. Having an Elemental key choose you is an extremely high honor; they are the most powerful spirits, second only to the Spirit King."

"But I thought the Zodiac were the most powerful?" he asked.

"Technically, no. But since the Elemental keys have never been seen in hundreds of years, they've been forgotten and the Zodiac are the third most powerful spirits," she answered, running her fingers over her keys lovingly. "I only know about them because my mother told me and I read as many books about my magic as I could find."

"So do you think you'll ever get one?" Bickslow tightened his grip on her hand as she jumped off of the edge in front of her building.

"That's the dream, but who knows," she shrugged, walking up the steps to her apartment door. Unlocking the door, she walked in and was greeted with the sight of all five totems flying around the room with Plue sitting on them. When Plue noticed his master's presence, he jumped off the babies and wobbled over to Lucy. She giggled at the spirit and picked him up, cuddling him in her arms. "Hi, Plue. Did you have fun with the babies?"

"Pun Pun!" Plue nodded happily.

"Good!" She turned to Bickslow, surrounded by his babies. "I'll see you at the guild tomorrow?"

"Yeah," he mumbled, turning to leave.

"Bix." He looked at her.

Lucy gave him a radiant smile and stood on her toes, pressing a kiss onto the man's cheek. "I had a lot of fun today, thank you."

She watched, amused, as Bickslow nodded silently and left. Once alone, she locked the door behind him and wandered into her living room, thinking about her relationship with the other mage. "I really like him, but I don't really know that much about him. What do you think I should do, Plue?"

"Puuun Pun Pun," the spirit sounded, nodding his head sagely.

Lucy giggled, "I think you're right, Plue. If I like him, I should just go with it."

-x- NEXT DAY -x-

Lucy was sitting at the bar taking leisurely taking sips from her strawberry milkshake with Plue sitting beside her, sucking on a lollipop Mira had given him, when the guild doors opened and Bickslow strode in. He spotted Lucy sitting at the bar and sauntered over, his babies flying ahead to meet her.

The settled next to Plue chanting, "Lucy! Plue!"

"Hi cuties, how are you today?" Lucy smiled at the little totems.

"Good! Good!" They chanted cheerfully, doing little somersaults.

"Hey Cosplayer," Bickslow greeted, plopping onto the stool next to her. 

"Hey," she responded, slightly disappointed that he was back to his usual wardrobe, helmet and all. "Plue wanted to play with the babies again, he really likes them."

"Yeah, they were bugging me about him on the way here," he told her, shrugging.

They fell into silence, watching Plue and the babies play on the bar, as Lucy drank her shake. After a few minutes she finished her finished her shake and turned to the mage sitting next to her.

"So," she began, "I heard you had to ask Mira for help yesterday, because you didn't have a plan at all."

"What if I did have a plan but wanted to ask Mira for her opinion?" He made a vain attempt at defending himself.

"Because going to Mira would have been your last option. You know how she gets about couples and dates," Lucy remarked. "I'm not mad or anything, but if you really want to apologize for whatever reason, I have an idea."

"An idea?" he repeated.

"Mhm!" Lucy turned and pointed at his head. "The next we go out, not only are you leaving the helmet at home, but you will also leave the sunglasses at home."

"... There's no way out of this, is there?" He sighed as she shook her head, grinning. "Fine, you win."

"I always do, Bixy."


End file.
